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Wednesday, July 01, 2009 - 4.03 GMT |
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Sri Lanka
welcomes initiatives taken to promote Trade
and Investment in IOR-ARC |
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Sri
Lanka
welcomed
the
initiatives
taken to
promote
trade
and
investment
among
member
states
within
the
framework
of the
Indian
Ocean
Rim
Association
for
Regional
Cooperation
(IOR-ARC)
during
its
Council
of
Ministers’
Meeting
in
Sana’a,
Yemen.
IOR-ARC
‘may
proceed
on the
basis
that a
Preferential
Trade
Arrangement
is an
instrument
to
foster
and
enhance
the
promotion
of trade
flows in
the
region
by
removing
impediments’,
said
Deputy
Minister
of
Foreign
Affairs
Hussain
Bhaila
who led
the Sri
Lanka
delegation
to the
Conference.
He
however
cautioned
that
‘mutually
beneficial
trade’
must be
promoted,
taking
into
account
‘the
economic
asymmetries
among
member
states’.
The
Deputy
Minister,
in this
context,
welcomed
the
deliberations
of the
PTA
Sub-Committee
under
the IOR
Working
Group on
Trade
and
Investment,
in
mapping
the work
envisaged
with
regard
to the
implementation
of a
Preferential
Trade
Agreement
for IOR-ARC
member
states.
He
commended
the
moves
underway
to share
information
among
member
states
on
trade,
finance,
investment
regimes,
intellectual
property,
procurement
procedures,
customs
regulations
and
quarantine
requirements
to reach
harmonisation
of
standards,
as
‘welcome
first
steps in
intra-regional
trade
facilitation’.
Deputy
Foreign
Minister
reiterated
Sri
Lanka’s
deep
commitment
towards
the
principles
espoused
by IOR-ARC,
having
actively
contributed
to the
Organisation
in
various
capacities
over the
years.
He
reiterated
the
sentiments
echoed
by
member
countries
of the
need to
‘collectively
map a
strategy
that can
unlock
the
tremendous
potential
of IOR-ARC’
by the
institutional
strengthening
of the
Organisation,
the
Ministry
of
Foreign
Affairs,
states.
Sri
Lanka
welcomed,
among
other
initiatives,
the
setting
up of
the
Centre
for
Science
and
Technology
Transfer
in Iran
to
facilitate
the
transfer
and
development
of
technology
among
member
states’;
the
further
development
of the
IORNET
website
to
encourage
private
sector
interaction;
and the
agreement
reached
in
principle
to
combat
maritime
piracy
in the
region.
It also
commended
initiatives
by
member
countries
to
cooperate
on areas
of
common
interest
binding
the
Indian
Ocean
Rim
countries
such as
disaster
management
and
information
sharing,
shipping,
coastal
infrastructure
development
and
tourism.
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